I’m sorry but I don’t have something important to say… I just wanted to discuss something that happned to me today. I finished talking the boy you know my “sweet heart” and I knew I was too tired to cook anything. Great. So what did I do? I went to “Dahab” it’s a restaurant for Fateera (Egyptian dish, made with ground beef and filo dough) and pizza

My roommate wanted some food from a restaurant right next to Dahab as well. Really that restaurant is the cause of a lot of problems. I mean, chaos! I swear every time I go there I feel like the workers want something from me that I can’t give… yes, exactly, a romantic relationship.

The first time I went there one of them said to me “at your service my dear” or “at your service life of my heart!” what is all that about? All that garbage talk, I swear! I don’t see how they can say these things to some girl they just met. But I take because in comparison to they guys who harass me and my friends on the street, their awesome. I mean I will say it plainly, I know they were flirting with me and my friends but whatevs. As long as there is food for cheap and quickly made and all they say is a few sweet words, whatevs.

I need to get to the point, this story has run on much too long. I went to the restaurant and they asked my where I’d been. I told them I’d been studying. One of them asked for my phone number. I just smiled and stared at the floor because I don’t want to give it to him or any man, I swear. I just want to remain a respectable girl and don’t want any kind of romantic liason with an Egyptian man.

I am not shy at all. Thank God. But I just told him “You know I am a lot older than you.” And he of course, did not believe me. He didn’t think I was more than 24 years old. (May God almight bless those who think I am still young and beautiful!). But I told him “No, I am older than that.” He still didn’t believe me. When I told him that I’m 27 he asked me “What year were you born?” and I replied “1984.” After that the love for me disappeared. An Arab man is not going to date someone older than him even if she is American! (apparently)

I am thinking about last week and my experience with men. Sometimes I feel like there’s no hope in this arena. But really, there are plenty of fish in the sea! There was another man (American) that was “flirting” with me. Really this man said some things that were really not appropriate at all! But I, because I am so respectful, did not tell him to “bugger off! Shame on you! You are tripping! This isn’t right! Shame on you!” I just tried to change the subject.

But after talking to some friends I realized something, his words go to me. So I sent him a message telling him that I didn’t want to take his mess. You know when someone you love annoys you, you take like it was sweet honey… but he’s not someone I love!

مش أعرفش لو هو حيرد عليا لو هو راجل هيعمل كده بس لو لا معلاش…

I don’t know if he will reply an apologize. If he’s a real man, he will. If not, oh well.

Post navigation

One thought on “انت مكسوفة ولا اي؟ Are you Shy or something? — Flirting in Egypt”

KG

What strikes me about the “shy” comment is how it relates to the conversation we were having about the American guy…how people will interpret actions in different ways. You can think ignoring a guy’s advances is enough of a clue, but you just need to be direct and say something, or they may interpret your lack of a reaction as a “maybe.”

You were looking down at the floor while the Egyptian guy was talking to you–in the U.S. (and in Egypt, apparently), that can be something that communicates shyness. I think your recent experiences have been really instructive in communication–both verbal and nonverbal. I really think women in particular are trained to be polite in every situation, and that can actually be detrimental in some cases, when the response should just be a firm, “no.” We should be mindful of our verbal communication and body language. Not that we should necessarily change anything about ourselves, or that any misinterpretation is our fault, but just so that we can be cognizant of the signals we might be sending. When in doubt, try to be as nice, but as direct, as possible.